You might think that for someone with a title as imperative as that of a film’s editor, one would be aware of all the shots and scenes, especially the most crucial ones. But apparently, that wasn’t the case with the Black Adam editor Mike Sale, as he recently confirmed that he had no idea about Henry Cavill’s return to the DC Universe as Superman until the rumors started to turn up all over the internet on various social media platforms.
As astonishing as it may sound, the editor of DC’s latest superhero flick revealed that he wasn’t privy to the details about the return of Henry Cavill’s Clark Kent to the DCU, let alone know about his cameo in the end-credit scenes of Black Adam. But once he became aware that the rumors were indeed true, he was just as jubilant as the fans were at that time.
Black Adam’s editor didn’t know about Henry Cavill’s return as Superman
Michael L. Sale, also known as Mike Sale, the editor of Jaume Collet-Serra’s Black Adam recently talked about the film in an interview with Below the Line, when he revealed being in the dark with regard to Henry Cavill‘s comeback to the superhero franchise as the Man of Steel.
“I learned a lot about that probably the same time people on the internet were learning about it. I didn’t know — that was something that was shot very late in the process and it was very much secret.”
Sale explained how he hadn’t known about Cavill’s return beforehand and only heard about it through the plethora of rumors that were floating around during that time. In fact, he didn’t even know anything about the British actor’s cameo in Black Adam‘s post-credit scenes until after Dwayne Johnson gift-wrapped the prospect and presented it to him.
“All of a sudden, I heard we had a test. I was like, yeah, we got a couple. We had several different end-credit things. That was only one of them, but that was one I know Dwayne and Beau were very passionate about getting it in.”
One would expect Sale to feel betrayed or at least a little offended for leaving such a major detail out. However, the Bridesmaids editor instead took it all in stride as he remarked being happy about the “amazing choice” of reintroducing Cavill through a cameo in Black Adam.
“I thought it was an amazing choice. I liked the franchise, too, and I love Henry. I’m a big Superman guy.”
Although he was sorry about the leaks about Superman’s cameo in the Dwayne Johnson-led movie that spoiled the scene, Sale was still thrilled about the prospect of the Enola Holmes star returning to the big screens as a part of the DCU.
Mike Sale is a huge Superman fan
If you thought you were excited about Cavill’s return as Superman, imagine the state of the film editor who was working on a movie that literally had the actor in it.
When Sale got to know about the Dawn of Justice star’s role in the end-credit scenes of Black Adam, he was elated, to say the least, and recalled thinking about how that was “a pretty intense thing” to happen to him.
“For me, when I saw the dailies, personally, I had a moment where I went, ‘Oh my God, I’m working on a movie that’s gonna have Superman in it.’”
As a kid, Sale had grown up watching the iconic films of Batman and Superman and had taken a penchant for those superheroes ever since. He stated how when the Superman film was released in 1978, he was a teen working at the cinemas, “cleaning them up.” So, being able to work on a film that featured his favorite superhero was definitely a huge feat for him.
“It’s a long way from cleaning those movie theaters [playing] Superman. I’m like, ‘wow, this is a pretty intense thing that’s happened to me,’ personally.”
Besides working as an editor on Black Adam, Mike Sale is also renowned for his work on the 2013 comedy film, We’re the Millers, and Red Notice, the action movie starring Gal Gadot, The Rock, and Ryan Reynolds.
Sale had also edited a few other Johnson-led films before, including Central Intelligence and Skyscraper but Black Adam being his first-ever comic book movie, has gained him considerable recognition and a unique experience altogether.
Source: Beyond the Line
